We are delighted to reveal Kanya King, the Strat winner at this year’s Music Week Awards, as the cover star of our new monthly print edition.
Since founding the MOBO Awards in the mid-’90s, King has elevated Black music to unprecedented heights, inspiring wave after wave of artists and executives to break boundaries in the UK and around the world. In our huge career-spanning interview, the winner of The Strat looks back at her journey so far and, as the MOBOs turns 25, plots what’s next. Plus, a host of top artists, managers, executives and more from across the music industry salute King’s incredible accomplishments.
For The Music Week Interview, we catch up with Warner Chappell Music’s UK MD Shani Gonzales, who took charge of the publisher’s London office in October 2020, at a turbulent time for the music industry and the world. And, amid lockdowns and remote working, her first 12 months have been action packed. Here, the former BMG exec reveals how, with personality and a progressive approach, she plans to revitalise not only her company, but publishing as we know it. Plus! Warner Chappell Music CEO and co-chair Guy Moot reflects on Shani Gonzales’ tenure as UK boss so far...
On top of that, we take an in-depth look at what’s going on behind the scenes with the team tasked with taking The Beatles’ legacy into the future. Indeed, it’s a big month to be a fan of the Fab Four, with a new album reissue, book and the extraordinary Disney+ documentary series The Beatles: Get Back on the way. In our eight-page feature, director Peter Jackson, producer Giles Martin, Universal Music’s Orla Lee-Fisher, and Jonathan Clyde of Apple Corps reveal all on a multi-faceted project that unravels the myths and mayhem of the group’s final LP, Let It Be…
Also inside: after a stop-start two years put the brakes on his meteoric rise, Sam Fender is raring to go again. With his second album Seventeen Going Under right around the corner, Music Week joins the local hero with the world at his fingertips, manager Owain Davies, Polydor’s Tom March and Helen Fleming, and CAA’s Paul Wilson as they get the show back on the road.
Nor is Fender the only one with big plans to get back in action. Ray BLK’s debut album has been years in the making, and now Access Denied is finally here. After a rapid rise in which she won a MOBO and topped the BBC Sound Of Poll, BLK’s blend of rap and R&B has consistently delivered, while she’s become a vital voice in music, speaking out against industry racism, sexism and inequality. Here, alongside manager Sarah Stennett, Island president Louis Bloom and A&R Jade Richardson, she tells Music Week why her time has finally come...
Elsewhere, we shine a light on education organisation Cre8ing Vision, which connects young people with the cream of the industry via initiatives such as The Ultimate Seminar. Inside, co-directors Kwame Kwaten, Andrea Euell and Nicola Charles lay out the path to developing the next generation of music business talent. Plus! Music Week meets a selection of executives and rising industry stars involved with Cre8ing Vision, including RCA president David Dollimore, Ministry Of Sound general manager Negla Abdela and hit songwriter Jessica Agombar.
Finally in features, we deliver a special report on the world of music royalties collection services. With efficiency and transparency at the top of every artist, label, publisher and manager’s agenda, we speak to its major players and find out why competition in the sector is fiercer than ever. s increasingly vital sector...
In Hitmakers we speak to Gary Barlow about the penultimate No.1 single of Take That’s first incarnation and find out how the 1995 classic Never Forget was sent into overdrive by the production fairy dust of the late, great Jim Steinman. Aftershow, meanwhile, invites Records CEO Barry Weiss to look back on his storied career, from working with everyone from Britney Spears and The Stone Roses to Will Smith...
In this month's Big Story, Warner Music’s Derek Allen outlines the huge ambitions for Ed Sheeran’s highly-anticipated new record =, while Spotify, HMV, Amazon Music, ERA and Deezer weigh up the LP’s likely impact. Elsewhere in the news section, music retail gears up for National Album Day, with BPI, ERA and BBC execs discussing how the event has become part of the industry calendar.
For our Spotlight Q&A interview, chief exec of promoter Kilimanjaro Live and co-founder of the new UK umbrella trade body LIVE, Stuart Galbraith talks growing the business, the prospects for festivals and global touring and more, Also in Frontline, you’ll meet the duos behind advertising tech service Audiomob and the acclaimed hip-hop podcast Breaking Atoms in In Pod We Trust.
In On The Radar this month, we speak to Grammy-winning soul singer Yebba, whose brilliant debut helped her find calm after tragedy. In Key Releases, meanwhile, sees Brandi Carlile open up about her new album In These Silent Days and her highs and lows in the music business, while RCA managing director Stacey Tang talks the major’s plans for Nao’s And Then Life Was Beautiful album...
For this month’s Mentor Me page – a collaboration between Music Week and Girls I Rate – we ask AWAL A&R director Eve Fairley-Chickwe to give her Top 5 career tips for making it in the music industry.
In his Centre Stage column, Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd gets to grips with the challenges of managing live music’s return. As ever, the expanded Archive section sees us flick through the pages of the Music Week of yesteryear.
There’s all of this and our expanded monthly charts section in which we present the Top 75 Singles and Albums of the previous month, accompanied by revamped analysis pages, plus a host of new listings. These include specialist genre Top 20s for Americana, Classical, Hip-Hop & R&B, Jazz, Country, Dance, Folk and Rock & Metal, which have never previously featured in Music Week. The issue is also home to streaming, compilations and vinyl charts.
The new issue of Music Week is available to subscribers from August 14 and on the news-stand from August 17.
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